Monday, April 02, 2007

Lara rues schedule after new loss


West Indies captain Brian Lara admitted his team were feeling the effects of a hectic schedule after their third successive defeat in the last six days.

"I thought the first 15 overs went really well, we had them at 50-2 but then they batted really well," he said after the 113-run loss to Sri Lanka.

"It was tough, we've had four games in 10 days and you could feel some of the guys were a bit flat in the outfield.

"We've got to pick up and fight because you never know what can happen."

Lara conceded that Sanath Jayasuriya took the game away from his team with a swashbuckling century.

"After the 15 overs Jayasuriya jumped on us and the next few overs cost something like 50 runs, which set the tone for the innings.

"Credit must be given to Jayasuriya and the captain [Mahela] Jayawardene for their partnership."

The Windies skipper suggested that the intense period of matches had affected his pace bowler Daren Powell, commenting: "He seems to have dropped about 10 kilometres in the last few days."

The beleagured Windies have three matches remaining but are not back in action until 10 April when they face South Africa in Grenada.

"We're going to have a couple of days off and re-assess the situation. We have to be sure we are fresh for the last three matches," Lara said.


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